Dietitians and Nutritionists in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,736
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$14,564
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,946
Rhode Island costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Rhode Island — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$71,300
Kept after tax
$56,736
Worth in national money
$55,946
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Rhode Island is 28 of 51 states for dietitians and nutritionists, with a middle wage of $71,300. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 452 occupations Rhode Island reports figures for, this is number 196.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $71,300 the take-home is $56,736, which is worth about $55,946 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $75,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island ranks 28 of 51 for dietitians and nutritionists at $71,300. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Rhode Island's occupational distribution, dietitians and nutritionists sits at 196 of 452 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for dietitians and nutritionists on its $71,300 median: $56,736 retained after tax becomes $55,946 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $75,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Dietitians and Nutritionists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,770 |
| This salary | $71,300 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Rhode Island | $56,736 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,990 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,759 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $68,096 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,352 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Rhode Island earn less than $71,300. The published range is $51,060 up to $100,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $56,736 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $71,300. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 196 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,946 uses one figure for the whole of Rhode Island. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 452 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 196.
- Reported values are medians; for dietitians and nutritionists in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,060 to $100,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $56,736, from $71,300, assumes a single Rhode Island filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 196 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,946, worked from $71,300, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Rhode Island address, on work sitting at 196 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $75,820 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $51,060 at the tenth percentile, $100,770 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $55,946 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Rhode Island's own levy, $56,736 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Rhode Island is $75,820. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,060 to $100,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Rhode Island rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Rhode Island's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $55,946 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $56,736 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Rhode Island income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.